[Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry] describes a year during which Cassie Logan learns to handle the indignities inflicted upon herself, her family and neighbors. She also learns the importance of her family's struggle to keep their land and their economic independence….

Throughout the book, the reader is moved to tears by Ms. Taylor's vibrant, exquisite and simple style. The dialogue is lightly seasoned with Southern colloquialisms.

After reading Cassie's last lines—"And I cried for those things which had happened in the night and would not pass. I cried for T.J. For T.J. and the land"—you want to turn back and start all over again.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry deserves to become a classic in children's literature.

Emily R. Moore, "The Bookshelf: 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'," in Interracial Books for Children Bulletin (reprinted by permission of Interracial Books for Children...